WRONG! The smaller the laser wavelength, the smaller and more tightly focussed the laser and therefore you can burn a smaller dot in the ink. BTW, you can burn a smaller dot in the ink with an infrared laser (yep, thats what they are) as well but there really isn't any improvement until you go to high-frequency ultraviolet and X-ray lasers. Take a look at a scale chart of the EM spectrum and you'll see just how insignificant the difference between red and blue lasers is. -==-
We are Microsoft. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
There are some excellent competitor software packages (OpenOffice is one that comes to mind, is free and is bloody brilliant - and did I mention almost 100% compatible with Office2K?) available. Microsoft know this, but the people do not, and Microsoft would like it to stay that way. That way, they can screw everyone as much as they like and no-one will know any better. Advertise OpenOffice whenever you can! -==-
We are Microsoft. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
The RIAA aren't just going to have trouble with Gnutella, there are FTP servers all over with nothing but MP3s, not to mention the multitude of IRC channels containing 50 odd MP3 server bots / scripts. The RIAA has got absolutely no chance of blocking or regulating MP3 music trade, and even if they do succeed, the trade will just go underground with, as Spyder said, encrypted versions of Gnutella and other methods of filesharing. What the RIAA needs to do is to encourage the legal trade of music. If such a thing is achievable. There will always be a market for music CDs until broadband becomes mainstream (and cheap,) because I don't want to spend 50 hrs on the net downloading the latest top 100!
On the other hand, the RIAA does have a point. Royalty-free trade of music is morally wrong. So why can't the producers place MP3's on their website available for free and legal download - or even a secure online song purchasing facility, say US$1 per track. Don't format that hard drive!:) But Microsoft also have a good idea with a licensing system for purchasing songs online. Perhaps if this system were perfected (and GPL'd) there wouldn't be any need for all this nonsense. -==-
We are Microsoft. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
Slashdot Mirror
WRONG! The smaller the laser wavelength, the smaller and more tightly focussed the laser and therefore you can burn a smaller dot in the ink. BTW, you can burn a smaller dot in the ink with an infrared laser (yep, thats what they are) as well but there really isn't any improvement until you go to high-frequency ultraviolet and X-ray lasers. Take a look at a scale chart of the EM spectrum and you'll see just how insignificant the difference between red and blue lasers is.
-==-
We are Microsoft. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
There are some excellent competitor software packages (OpenOffice is one that comes to mind, is free and is bloody brilliant - and did I mention almost 100% compatible with Office2K?) available. Microsoft know this, but the people do not, and Microsoft would like it to stay that way. That way, they can screw everyone as much as they like and no-one will know any better. Advertise OpenOffice whenever you can!
-==-
We are Microsoft. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
The RIAA aren't just going to have trouble with Gnutella, there are FTP servers all over with nothing but MP3s, not to mention the multitude of IRC channels containing 50 odd MP3 server bots / scripts. The RIAA has got absolutely no chance of blocking or regulating MP3 music trade, and even if they do succeed, the trade will just go underground with, as Spyder said, encrypted versions of Gnutella and other methods of filesharing. What the RIAA needs to do is to encourage the legal trade of music. If such a thing is achievable. There will always be a market for music CDs until broadband becomes mainstream (and cheap,) because I don't want to spend 50 hrs on the net downloading the latest top 100! :) But Microsoft also have a good idea with a licensing system for purchasing songs online. Perhaps if this system were perfected (and GPL'd) there wouldn't be any need for all this nonsense.
On the other hand, the RIAA does have a point. Royalty-free trade of music is morally wrong. So why can't the producers place MP3's on their website available for free and legal download - or even a secure online song purchasing facility, say US$1 per track. Don't format that hard drive!
-==-
We are Microsoft. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.